Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-06-23
EATING ON BOARD SHIP.
How Many Provisions It Takes to Stock
. Modern. Ocean Steamer.

How Many Provisions It Takes to stool
Modern. Ocean Steamer.
That ''human nature is a curiou
thing, and there is plenty Of it." i
probably better exemplified on board I
great ocean steamship than in an!
other place in the world. There is t.
be found a motley assemblage of men
women and children, sometimes mum
bering upwards of 1,5OO souls-no
packed like behring's in a barrel, mo
tionlcss and compressed, but as bee
in hive, active and swarming abou
every hour in the day. Their lives ar,
linked together and subject to on'
common destiny for the time being
and the knowledge of this fact. as wei
as the circ,lmscribed nature of the i'm
mediate surroundings. promotes so
liability and good fellowship, and in
duces passengers to take an unusua
interest in their neighbors.
The vast majority of tae travelling
public accept with complacency, and
quite as matter of course, the refine
ments and conveniences to be found on
board the ocean steamers of to-day.
They fail to grasp the full extent OF
the advancement which has .taken
place within the last half century, and
they are apt to overlook the intricacic>
of the human mechanism which has
to be constantly but quietly kept in
motion for the attainment of order,
regularity and discipline. They pos.
sess no intelligent conception of the
vastness and variety of the provision
ing necessary for the proper mainte-
nance of the crowds carried in our
modern floating hotels; nor have they
the slightest ideas of the quantities OF
fuel and ships stores generally alb
sorbed by these Unsuitable leviathans.
The Britannia, built in 1889, took
600 tons Of coal leaving Liverpool on
her outward voyage. She burned
forty-four tons per day. while her
steam pressure was nine pounds and
her speed little over eight knots per
hour. Gradually and steadily the
ocean steamers increased in all these
particulars until the elimination was
reached in vessel built in 1885. She
has averaged speed of eighteen knots
in nine consecutive voyages between
Queenstown and New York, which is
equal to nearly twenty-one statute
miles per hour, or somewhat greater
than the average speed of the ordinary
train service on any railway in the
world. Her engines indicate 14.OOO
horsepower and are supplied with
steam from nine double-ended boilers,
each with eight furnaces. The total
consumption of coal is 800 tons per
day, or twelve tons per hour, or 466
pounds per minute; and if the whole
of the fires were raked together and
formed into one large fire there would
be forty-two tons of coal, or mass
twenty feet long, twenty feet broad
and rather more than four feet high
fiercely burning. Besides the coal.
40 gallons of oil are used daily for
journals, bearing Is. etc.
Passengers inhale with the sea air
an excess of enthusiasm. and are ready
20 become excited on the smallest pro-
vocation. Is it a passing vessel? Or
spouting whale? Or a towering ice
berg? 1t forms for the nonce an all
absorbing topic os interest and eager
speculation. But even to those who
can not be termed epicurcs, the chief
concern and uppermost thought of
each day is undoubtedly What shall
We eat and what shall we drink"
The fresh breezes create hearty APP
petites. and with numbers of people
the time is agreeably spent in the en-
joyment of one meal or in the anticipa-
ton of the next. Under these circum-
stances. what an important depart
mcnt is that under the charge of the
chief steward!
The amount of provisions. groceries.
etc, on board ut the time of sailing is
very large. For a single passage to
the v es,ward one of the most noted
steamers. with 547 cabin passengers
and crew of 2s7 persons had. when
leaving Liverpool. the following
quantities of PROFESSIONALISM 500 pounds
fresh beet, 760 pounds corned beef, s.
$50 pounds mutton. $50 pounds lamb.
$50 pounds of veal. $50 pounds pork.
1900 pounds fresh fish, 600 fowls. $50
chickens. 100 ducks. so geese. 81
turkeys. 200 brace grouse. Is ton pota-
toes, so hampers Vegetables. 22O quarts
ice cream. 1000 quarts milk and 1900
eggs.
In groceries alone there were over
200 different articles, including (for
the round voyage of twenty-five days.
$50 pounds tea, 1900 pounds coffee,
LOGO pounds white sugar,2 800 pounds
moist sugar, $50 pounds pulverized
sugar. 1850 pounds cheese. 1900
pounds butter. $500 pounds ham and
1000 pounds bacon.-N. y Nail and
Express.
Scarcely newspaper existed in Ja-
pan twenty years ago, and nov there